Starting today, a mere facial scan will allow Vistara passengers to zip through Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, which has commenced a three-month trial for paperless travel.
Passengers need to follow some simple steps to experience this futuristic way of travelling.
Firstly, they need to report at the registration desk outside Terminal 3, from where Vistara operates its flights, with their air ticket and valid identification documents, which are verified by CISF personnel. Following this, their facial details will be captured on a camera and a data envelope for each passenger is generated. Hereon, the facial image is the passenger’s ticket.
Subsequently, the passenger enters the terminal building where e-gates open automatically after a face scan. The passenger then proceeds towards the check-in counters to drop his bags, or head straight for security check if there are no check-in luggage. Before entering the security hold area, the passenger again does a face scan when the e-gates open. The same drill is repeated one last time before approaching the departure gate and boarding the flight.
The process is voluntary and allows a passenger to have full control on his or her data and ask for it to be deleted any time during their journey.
On the successful implementation of this trial, Delhi International Airport Limited will launch the biometric-based access system in partnership with more airlines.
The airport is introducing this technology in partnership with Vision Box, which has developed and installed the One-ID platform. The platform is fully compliant with European Union General Protection Data Regulation Law, which will also apply to any airport catering to European passengers and recording their biometric details.
While biometric-based digital processing of passengers is part of the government’s “DigiYatra” policy unveiled last year in October, a centralised platform envisaged under it allow passengers to get a unique ID before booking flight so that they don’t even have to carry a ticket upto the terminal.